A group of ex-Funcinpec governors and deputy governors recently ousted from their positions said they have delivered a petition to the Royal Cabinet, seeking retired King Norodom Sihanouk’s intervention in their dispute with the royalist party.
Former Kandal province governor Tep Nonnary said the appeal was signed by eight other replaced officials and delivered to the palace on Tuesday.
Their call for intervention follows weeks of wrangling, as some 19 ousted Funcinpec officials dispute their removal, which they alleged involved corruption among the party leadership.
“I have been waiting for so long,” Tep Nonnary said Wednesday, criticizing the party’s recent move to set up a special “discipline” committee to deal with the disgruntled members.
“They formed a discipline committee instead of finding a solution,” he said. Funcinpec should have instead formed a committee to investigate “corruption, nepotism and irregularity” in the appointment of the new governors and deputy governors, he added.
Included in the appeal to Norodom Sihanouk were the signatures of Uo Bun, the former governor of Kompong Speu province, Thach Khorn, ex-governor of Banteay Meanchey province, and Chhoam Bun Khorn, ex-governor of Mondolkiri province, Tep Nonnary said.
But despite outrage at his party, Tep Nonnary vowed he would never quit Funcinpec. “I don’t want to be called a traitor [or] betray my ideals…. I have risked my blood to improve Funcinpec,” he said.
Mam Bun Neang, Funcinpec’s chief representative for Phnom Penh, said party President Prince Norodom Ranariddh is working toward a solution, and promised that everyone replaced would be given a position.
Royal adviser Prince Sisowath Thomico said Wednesday he was unaware of the matter, but that Norodom Sihanouk would likely issue a response.
